This application concerns controls for automotive transmissions and more particularly for electronically controlled automatic transmissions which allows manual changing of gears.
Most electronically controlled automatic transmissions allow overdrive to be selectively turned on or off by a separate push button operated switch.
Transmissions have often been equipped with an “autostick” capability which allows manual upshifting or downshifting of the transmission by movement of a selector lever.
A steering column mounted lever has in the past been equipped with a push button on a knob at the end of the lever for controlling the actuation of overdrive with a switch inside the knob operated by the button.
It has been considered desirable to also allow upshifting or downshifting by operating switches on the steering column lever to allow quicker shifting.
It would be desirable to reduce the cost of such controls by combining the switches controlling those two functions into a single assemblage so that fewer components would be necessary to be assembled into the lever.
It is the object of the present invention to provide a steering column lever mounted multifunction switching arrangement able to control autostick and overdrive activation.